Clarkson returns his Ford GT

[280Z Turbo]

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0...1677058,00.html

Sorry, Ford, I have to ask for my money back
By Jeremy Clarkson of The Sunday Times

Thirty-five years ago I promised myself that one day I?d own a Ford GT40, the blue-collar supercar that took an axle grinder to Ferrari?s aristocratic halo at Le Mans. But 25 years ago my dreams were dashed as I grew too tall to fit inside.
Happily, in 2002 Ford announced that it was to build a modern-day version of the old racer. It would, they said, cost less than ?100,000 and do more than 200mph. They also said it would be much bigger than the original so pylon-people like me would be able to drive it.

And so, two years ago, having tested a prototype in America, I placed an order for one of the 28 that were coming to Britain.

As the months groaned by there were rumours of big price increases, insatiable thirst and catastrophic suspension failure. But there were also rumours of the supercharged V8 pumping out 550bhp and a mountain of torque so massive it was breaking the testing equipment. So I didn?t mind.

I didn?t even mind when it arrived at my house one month ago inside a truck which had ?On Time? written down the side. As we know from America?s arrival into the second world war, their concept of ?on time? differs slightly from ours.

And anyway, it looked so gorgeous, a mass of bulging muscle struggling to contain that massive 5.4 litre supercharged heart. It doesn?t look like a GT40 but it looks like a GT40 looks in your head. And it?s huge. Longer than a Volvo XC90 and as wide as a Hummer.

Which is why, on its first run, to London, it was like a blue and white Pied Piper trailing a stream of ratty hatches in its wake. Everyone was taking pictures, waving, giving me the thumb?s up. Never, not once in 15 years of road testing cars, had anything drawn such a massive crowd. And never had the crowd been so overtly supportive.

Of course you can?t run a car like this without a few problems rearing their head from time to time. It?s too wide for the width restrictions on Hammersmith bridge ? backing up earned me a slot on the traffic news that morning. The turning circle means every mini roundabout becomes a three-point turn, and at oblique junctions, as is the case in a Ferrari Enzo, you absolutely cannot see if anything?s coming.

But set against this is a surprisingly quiet and civilised ride. It?s like a power station. Silent, as it gets on with the job of brightening up your life.

Mind you, you are constantly aware of the Herculean power that nestles just over your right shoulder. Partly because you can see the supercharger belt whirring away in the rear-view mirror and partly because it makes a deep, dog-baiting rumble when you do put your foot down.

Ford asked that I keep the revs below 4000 for the first thousand miles. But since 100mph equates to 1900rpm it?s not really a hardship. And at this speed you?re doing 15mpg, which isn?t bad at all. But three days later everything started to go very, very wrong.

Leaving the Top Gear studio, the immobiliser refused to un-immobilise itself. So the car was pushed into the hangar and I went home instead in a rented Toyota Corolla.

Ford sent a tow truck, changed the immobiliser and delivered the car to my house the following day. ?Is it fixed?? I asked. ?Yes,? they said.

It wasn?t. At three in the morning the alarm blew. And then again at four. This meant my wife started to refer to it as ?that f****** car?, which took away a bit of the sheen, if I?m honest.

The next day, on the way back to the garage, I received a call on the hands-free phone from the tracker company. ?Your car?s been stolen, sir,? said the man. ?I?m sure it hasn?t,? I said, ?because I?m in it.?

Fearing that I might be the burglar, the man asked if I could give him my password. Tricky one that, since I have a different password for everything on the internet and can never remember any of them. And that?s a big problem, because the man at the end of the phone has the power to remotely shut down the engine.

I threatened him, lightly, with some physical harm, but this didn?t work so I had to guess. ?Aardvark,? I ventured. ?Abacus, Aesop, additional . . .?

Eventually he took pity and I was able to deliver the car back to Ford with some stern warnings about the alarm, the immobiliser and the tracker system, all of which seemed to be malfunctioning. As a courtesy car they gave me a Ford Focus, with a diesel engine. Nice.

Two days later the GT was back. ?Is it fixed?? I asked, again. ?Yes,? they said

Five minutes out of the Ford garage I received a text to say my car had been stolen. And then, in the next half hour, three more. So, counting the two I?d received before I was even out of bed, that meant my car had been stolen five times before 9am.

This time I rang Ford and explained that I would personally come over there and insert the whole car up the chairman?s backside if it wasn?t fixed. And while I was on the phone a yellow warning light came on the dash.
?There?s a yellow warning light on the dash,? I bellowed, like Michael Winner, only angrier. ?Oh, that?ll be something to do with the engine management system,? said the man with the bleeding ears. ?You?ll need to get it looked at . . .?

When Ford gave me the car back after its third hospital trip in as many weeks, I didn?t ask if the security system was fixed. Because the notion of it still being broken was simply inconceivable.

So imagine my surprise when, one hour later, while at my daughter?s school play, I heard a familiar siren. I couldn?t believe it. The alarm had gone off again.

In a fury this time, I called Ford and explained, loudly, that Roush, the company charged with servicing and maintaining the 28 GTs in Britain, was plainly incompetent. And that there was simply no point asking it to fix the alarm again because it?d had three goes already.

I then did something the man at Ford wasn?t expecting. I asked for my money back.

And that, the next day, is what happened.

They put ?126,000 in my account and sent a man to pick up the car. ?Is it the alarm system?? he said. ?They all do that.?

So there we are. A 35-year dream. A two-year wait. Ten years of damn hard work. And what do I get? The most miserable month?s motoring it is possible to imagine.

Strangely, however, as the GT rumbled down my drive for the last time, I felt like Julie Walters watching Michael Caine getting on the plane at the end of Educating Rita. I actually cried.

There?s a very good reason for this. I genuinely believe that some machines have a soul and I can?t bear to think of my Ford sitting in a warehouse now, unloved and unwanted. It is fine. It is perfect. It knows it?s a great, great car that was ruined by a useless ape who fitted a crummy aftermarket alarm system.

Ford has said I can buy the car back any time. It has even lent me an Aston Martin DB9 while I make up my mind. I don?t know though. I just don?t know.

Normally I finish these columns with an opinion of mine. But this time it?s the other way round. I?d love to hear yours.

One thing: I know I could sell the car privately and make a ?50,000 profit. But I have never profited from my position as a motoring journalist. And I never will.

VITAL STATISTICS  

Model Ford GT
Engine 5409cc V8 supercharged
Power  550bhp @ 6500rpm
Torque 500lb ft @ 3750rpm
Transmission  Six-speed manual
Fuel 14.6mpg (combined cycle)
CO2 N/A
Acceleration 0-60mph: 3.8sec
Top speed 212mph
Price ?126,000
Verdict So good you can have mine
Rating Five stars

[BMWDave]

I feel bad for Mr. Clarkson. The Ford GT is such a great car, and it is ruined by a stupid car alarm system.

[SJ_GTI]

I wish that was a problem I had.

"Should I keep my 550 HP supercar, or should I sell it for a 50k dollar profit?"

Poor Jeremy.  

[280Z Turbo]

That's really not good for Ford. This is supposed to be a flagship.

[Raghavan]

can't he remove it and put in his own?

[BMWDave]

That's really not good for Ford. This is supposed to be a flagship.

Like C/D put it, its a supercar that produces a super headache for Ford.

[ifcar]

How difficult would it be to simply uninstall the alarm system and pay a few hundred dollars for a different one?

[giant_mtb]

A 150,000 dollar car shouldn't have a faulty alarm system.  Especially one that bad.  I'd be so pissed.  

[ifcar]

I would too, but not to the point where I'd get another car if that was my only complaint.

[SJ_GTI]

So upon re-reading it, this sounds like an aftermarket alarm system?

"It knows it?s a great, great car that was ruined by a useless ape who fitted a crummy aftermarket alarm system. "

[thewizard16]

How difficult would it be to simply uninstall the alarm system and pay a few hundred dollars for a different one?

If it involves tracking and such, it's probably nearly impossible to remove, a monumental task to bypass, and then having a new system put in that doesn't affect the existing one could be very difficult.

[ifcar]

So upon re-reading it, this sounds like an aftermarket alarm system?

"It knows it?s a great, great car that was ruined by a useless ape who fitted a crummy aftermarket alarm system. "

He may just mean that Ford didn't design the system themselves, but use it on the GT.

[Fire It Up]

Sad.  

[TBR]

Sorry, but what an idiot. A Brit complaining about electric glitches!?!?! More than a bit ironic and hypocritical!

Also, I found this comment mildly offensive:
"I didn?t even mind when it arrived at my house one month ago inside a truck which had ?On Time? written down the side. As we know from America?s arrival into the second world war, their concept of ?on time? differs slightly from ours"

[ifcar]

I was impressed, usually Clarkson's entire "review" is a series of similarly stupid "humorous" statements. He couldn't keep them out completely, but he made a nice effort.

I suppose he considered talking about himself a priority over trying to be funny.

[TBR]

I am sure it is funny to Brits, but it is offensive to me as an American, Britian would likely be a province of Germany if we hadn't gotten involved.

[ifcar]

It's just a light-hearted jab, and not intended to be interpreted as anything more. Americans make fun of everyone else, you can't be so touchy when the shoe is on the other foot.

[TBR]

When we are the ones that are always saving everyone else's butts we can be as touchy as we want.  

[TBR]

Also, would like to note that what offends me is that he is implying that we failed to properly fulfill a duty while in reality we had no duty to Great Britian.

[Secret Chimp]

Want some help pulling that stick out of your ass?

[280Z Turbo]

Want some help pulling that stick out of your ass?

What he said!  

[Raza]

Oh please...if a car costs that much it should barely run.  Anyone remember the days when Ferraris had crappy, notchy shifters, terrible driving positions, and were terribly unreliable?  That's what a "supercar" should be.  It's not a daily driver, Jeremy, you twit, and if you were to use it as one, it would have been fine (another problem I have with 100K+ "sports cars" today).  Jeremy's just a douchebag, that's all.  And considered "British car" and "reliable" can't generally be said without the word "not" or hearty laughter, Clarkson's xenophobic and elitist attitude is downright laughable.  

[Raghavan]

Oh please...if a car costs that much it should barely run.  Anyone remember the days when Ferraris had crappy, notchy shifters, terrible driving positions, and were terribly unreliable?  That's what a "supercar" should be.  It's not a daily driver, Jeremy, you twit, and if you were to use it as one, it would have been fine (another problem I have with 100K+ "sports cars" today).  Jeremy's just a douchebag, that's all.  And considered "British car" and "reliable" can't generally be said without the word "not" or hearty laughter, Clarkson's xenophobic and elitist attitude is downright laughable.

huh?

[Raza]

Oh please...if a car costs that much it should barely run.  Anyone remember the days when Ferraris had crappy, notchy shifters, terrible driving positions, and were terribly unreliable?  That's what a "supercar" should be.  It's not a daily driver, Jeremy, you twit, and if you were to use it as one, it would have been fine (another problem I have with 100K+ "sports cars" today).  Jeremy's just a douchebag, that's all.  And considered "British car" and "reliable" can't generally be said without the word "not" or hearty laughter, Clarkson's xenophobic and elitist attitude is downright laughable.

huh?

What didn't you understand?

[Raghavan]

Oh please...if a car costs that much it should barely run.  Anyone remember the days when Ferraris had crappy, notchy shifters, terrible driving positions, and were terribly unreliable?  That's what a "supercar" should be.  It's not a daily driver, Jeremy, you twit, and if you were to use it as one, it would have been fine (another problem I have with 100K+ "sports cars" today).  Jeremy's just a douchebag, that's all.  And considered "British car" and "reliable" can't generally be said without the word "not" or hearty laughter, Clarkson's xenophobic and elitist attitude is downright laughable.

huh?

What didn't you understand?

if a car's expensive, it shouldn't run?

[Raza]

Oh please...if a car costs that much it should barely run.  Anyone remember the days when Ferraris had crappy, notchy shifters, terrible driving positions, and were terribly unreliable?  That's what a "supercar" should be.  It's not a daily driver, Jeremy, you twit, and if you were to use it as one, it would have been fine (another problem I have with 100K+ "sports cars" today).  Jeremy's just a douchebag, that's all.  And considered "British car" and "reliable" can't generally be said without the word "not" or hearty laughter, Clarkson's xenophobic and elitist attitude is downright laughable.

huh?

What didn't you understand?

if a car's expensive, it shouldn't run?

That's a bit of an overstatement, but essentially, yes.  Super high priced "sports cars" aren't meant for daily driving, and the proportions aren't meant for city traffic.  Old Ferraris did everything wrong--bad shifters, bad seats, bad drivig position--but you loved them anyway.  Jeremy picked apart the GT because it wasn't a luxury car suited for city driving.  That's like saying "This sedan is a crappy coupe" or "This SUV is terrible as a convertible"

[Secret Chimp]

Well, it sounded like he had largely stupid security/alarm problems, not bitchy Weber carbs =P

[280Z Turbo]

Perhaps Ford thought that a Lucas-inspired alarm system would appeal to the Brits.

Raza, I think there's a difference between a lack of comfort and an alarm system that really gets in the way of enjoying the car.

[Run Away]

Seriously, I would tell Ford to take it off the 3rd time it broke. I'll put in my own alarm system.
What fun is a car that you can't take anywhere because the alarm keeps on screeming, then reporting the car stolen while you are driving so that Ford people call you up and threaten to remotely shut down the engine?

I suspect it's a bit too difficult to do that though as it's probably super integrated.

[TBR]

Perhaps Ford thought that a Lucas-inspired alarm system would appeal to the Brits.

Raza, I think there's a difference between a lack of comfort and an alarm system that really gets in the way of enjoying the car.

British cars used to have problems with everything electronic. Windshield wipers, starters, lights, and the list goes on, and now this guy writes a letter telling people that a car is a piece of trash because of a faulty alarm (which can probably be turned off with a coupe of button pushes).